June, June, June

If you have never seen the YouTube video phenomenon of Leslie Uggams butchering (and I say that painfully because I love Miss Uggams back from her days in "Roots" - the ground-breaking mini-series!) "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" from Carousel, you SHOULD.  Here, let me help you as this video is this post's foundation:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrma76T5Wa4!


Have you ever tried lace?!  Well, I do to lace what Leslie Uggams did to "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" in that performance!  Man!  My hands with any fine yarn and small needles are not friends.  Like Miss Uggams, most of my lace work often comes out a big ol' mess...

On parenting...


Recently, I was chatting with a fellow parent, a mom at my son's violin studio (Hi, J!)  Together, we were commiserating on how difficult summers felt.  Most often, they are crazily unstructured.  We longed for the routines we had lost with the end of the school year... and how good these routines are not only for our kids, but for us, too.  I suppose it's exactly what that Staples commercial celebrates in the fall:  the return to the school year marks... the most wonderful time... 

Summers, in essence, end up feeling a bit messy, like a bad piece of lacework (i.e., my attempts at it to say the least) or a bad rendition of "June is Bustin' Out All Over"!  (Did you watch that video?!)

To avoid this lack of structure and because this year my son whom I often call "P" rebelled against camp, we are trying something new.  At first, it looks like a big ol' pile of activities - again, much like my attempts at lacework.  But upon closer inspection while there appears to be no structure to our summer activities, I am learning from knitting - as I have learned from his Montessori education - that everything has structure, even our impromptu work.  I love it.  P has a series of small camps and a whole bunch of activities at home.  The two of us are attacking every day and every week like a complex pattern:  a stitch at a time.  Similar to lace as well, our summer schedule (or our "pattern") seems to change every day/row, therefore, the two of us are trying to pay close attention to avoid having to unravel the work.  He is doing great, and this "life knitting pattern" of our own seems to be working... I love spending time with him and watching him grow.  Don't get me wrong; I'm still longing for the school year, but until then... What a treat!

As with other things, today, I am taking a page from life to inform my knitting, and I am taking a page from knitting to inform my journey through parenthood...


On Adam, Eve, and their knitwear...

Following the story, one day, Eve needed a hat...

Lace.  Lace.  Lace.  I'm not giving up on you, but I need to better understand how you function first!  We must try and try again.  Here we go...

In the beginning... Wait.  Could I try something other than lace?  My mom's shawl did not go well... Could I try something else?  Hmmm.... 

In the beginning... there was a man, some needles, and some beautiful yarn... some of his favorite.  (Yes, let's start with some of my favorite yarn!)  Using Berroco Ultra Alpaca - my "go to" yarn for beanies - I tackled the workings of lace.  Yes, I know... I have heard it already... worsted weight lace is for chickens, but remember, my method was to better understand the workings of lace and how it can be just like any other project, right?  (YIKES!)   I wanted to create something simple, quick, inspired by the 1920's, and that allowed me to explore something lace-like.  I wanted it to feel pretty, and I wanted it to feel girly.  To that end, I felt like adding a little adornment: a rosette.  After all, Eve was fussy about her looks as we learned later on during Sunday school...  ;)

The hat follows my quick recipe for a beanie incorporating yarnovers (YO) and knit-two-togethers (K2tog).  It was pretty straight-forward until I tried to use my preferred crown shaping which gives my beanies a rounder top and a spiral decrease.  Nothing was complicated; keeping track of the adjustmensts was a challenge - just like our summer schedule!

For the adornment, I experimented with both dyed (pink and green - see left) and natural color yarn (see pictures above) creating a long I-Cord (18"), folding it in half, and wrapping it into a knot.  Before doing so, I "opened" the I-Cord and continued knitting together one or two leaves (all in one piece) for dimension.  I liked it so much that I thought of a million and one different uses for those rosettes: tied to a ribbon around the neck, as a lapelle pin, as a headband, as a hair clip, as button closure (which you'll see later), as a belt...

Perhaps all of my women-friends (and some of my male friends) will be getting one this holiday season... perhaps...  

Thank you for reading and sharing with me.  And don't forget to feed the fishies! (Use your mouse to drop some food - by clicking - for them before you leave...)  e-

 

PS A special thanks to my beautiful friend, Meg T., for modeling this hat - neither she nor Eve was a prude, and I think Meg is prettier than Eve was.  Stay tuned for more...

In the beginning...

Having been raised as a Catholic boy in Puerto Rico, these three little words ("In the beginning...") tend to evoke a lot of different feelings - most of them of a religious nature. Today, however, I have learned that life is whatever you make it out to be much more so than a prescription of what "anyone else" has for you.  And beginnings can be so very beautiful, can't they?

On getting started...

A little over two years ago, I cast on my first stitch. I remember that day vividly. I was celebrating with two dear friends, and I felt courageous enough to try something new. "Can you teach me how to knit?" I asked Todd.  As loving and helpful as he always is, he answered, "Sure!" And so that journey began with a scarf I knit for my son, Pablo.  This scarf ended up being twice his height in length and wide as wide can be. We called it his "Harry Potter" scarf even though it looked more like a blanket, but hey... it kept him warm on the slopes during our first ski trip together, and he still uses that scarf to ski.

Since that first scarf, I have ventured into a lot of different knitting projects: beanies, shawls, fingerless gloves, suffered a case of the "onesie" with a mitten, neck warmers, baby sweaters, more scarves, a toy lobster (!), and sweaters. Whew! With every project, I have learned something new - a stitch, how to read a pattern, how to design a pattern, how to make a mistake, and how to repair it, how to put positive energy into a garment, and how to stop when the energy is not right. But most importantly, I have learned to be patient as stitches, like our children, do not always respond in the way you expect them to.

I know, I know... there is so much more about child-rearing.  And, I'll give you that.  But, it is in knitting that I have found (and keep finding) my chi. It is in the trance of knitting that I often ponder on the problems I face in my workaday job, in my relationships with my family and friends, and in raising my son.  I say that I knit to keep sane, but it is also in the trance of knitting that I find my inspiration.

On other beginnings...

It was in one of those trances that I recently pondered on an idea... After seeing a beautiful Tanis Gray scarf pattern in Vogue Knitting (Winter, 2008/2009), I decided to alter it for myself and try my hand at another scarf a little too big and a little too long.

As I was knitting the scarf, I started pondering on the idea of beginnings again.  In the beginning... there was a man... (remember, I was raised as a Catholic boy in Puerto Rico...) there was a man... (and in true fashion, my thoughts went on a tangent...) there was a man... his name was Adam... and what if Adam had knitwear?  Huh!  What if Adam had knitwear?!  What would this world be if Adam had knitwear?!  I have always thought of us knitters as really kind-hearted people, so would Eve have been a bit more prudent and not had that apple? Would Cain and Abel have been nicer to each other because they all had knitwear?! Hmmm...

When I finished this 11' (yes, that's eleven feet) scarf - a foot and a half wide - I rejoiced at the idea that this beautiful scarf could do more than be a fashion accessory.   It certainly was intended to keep me warm. And now, it had become a symbol of growth (both personal and professional).  It was a reminder of the kind-hearted nature of us knitters, and how there is so much out there to explore, still! This scarf left me to ponder the idea of what this world would be if we had had knitwear... in the beginning. e-

PS A special thanks to my good friend, Eric S., for modeling this scarf and some other projects to come... if Adam and Eve had had knitwear.  Stay tuned...